User blog:Wilhelm Oxclade/How to (Easily) Play Polyrhythms ~ Part I
So in a past blog post I mentioned “why shouldn’t we be able to play a paltry 11:19 rhythm?” - well, that’s been a goal of mine for a few days, and in these blogs posts I will work towards that, and beyond. Let me share with you my journey so far. Firstly, what is a polyrhythm? Well, a polyrhythm consists of two or more beats which do not share a common factor (one counts as a factor). Familiar beats like 1:4 and 1:2 are not polyrhythms, and are very easy to play. For a beat like 2:3 however, it may not be clear at first how to play it. So how do you play it? Simple - since there are 2 beats for every 3 beats, it means we can split up the time it takes a 2:3 rhythm to play one cycle into LCM(2,3), or 6, parts. Then we divide the 6 by 2 and 3 respectively to get 3 and 2. So we count to 6 over and over again, and on every multiple of 3 we will tap with one hand, and on every multiple of 2 we will tap with the other. When you do this, it sounds like this: While doing the whole counting and tapping in multiples of 2 and 3 deal is useful, I’ve personally found it’s not necessary - just internalize the rhythm overall, which goes long-short-short-short and then tap it out with one finger. Next, just tap out the same rhythm but switching back and forth between your right hand or your left hand (or between any two different parts of your body really), and you have 2:3 down pat! (Pun intended) Next is a 3:4 polyrhythm. Again, we can play it by breaking up a single cycle of this rhythm in LCM(3,4), or 12 parts. Now count to 12 over and over again, tapping with your right hand everytime you hit a multiple of 4 and tapping with your left hand everytime you hit a multiple of 3. Doing so sounds like this: But again, if you’re like me you probably find the counting way to learn this rhythm boring. So instead, internalize the rhythm of 3:4 and learn to tap it as a single beat. Then, tap out the same beat while switching hands, only tapping both hands when the polyrhythm begins again. A helpful phrase for 3:4 is 3:4 = “listen to your mother”. The video I linked should be used for practice though, as these phrases are close but not always exact. They are loose frameworks, and the videos are the fine-tuned results. Now that 2:3 and 3:4 have been covered let’s do 4:5! This one is just as easy when you get the hang of it, and is as follows: I’m not even going to mention the counting business now, because you can just learn 4:5 quicker with the phrase “that butter is not my butter” - and practicing along with the video. Learn to tap out the beat with a single hand, then tap the same beat while alternating hands. That’s all there is to it! You’ll find, as I did, that the more rhythms you learn the easier it becomes. So, now let’s move on to 5:6, when things start to get subtle. 5:6 is not difficult, but does requires a bit of fine tuning. Consult the following video for how it should sound: (This speed is far too slow to internalize the rhythm - go to this webpage and you can learn how to change the speed of a YouTube video past 2x. At about 3x is when you’ll hear the rhythm well.) The phrase “I met her in the form of a letter” can be used to memorise 5:6 time, but keep in mind it’s only a ROUGH guide. Learn to match the phrase to the real rhythm, not the real rhythm to the phrase, and you’ll play evenly. So, 2:3, 3:4, 4:5, 5:6, you know what’s coming - 6:7. This though is basic, as you can find out for yourself at this neat website, where you can create your own polyrhythms. From now on we’ll largely be using this site. When you first use the site there should be a bunch of rhythm rings of rhythms going on at once, but click “Remove all rings” and you’ll wipe the slate clean. Next, go to the number “8” and change it from an 8 to a 6, then if the sound is “kick” click “Add ring”, if it is not “kick” then select the kick instrument. Go to where it says “All volumes to max” after you click on the ring, and click that button. This will give an even dynamic. Next, add a ring with 7 divisions with a “clap” sound. Click on the ring, set all volumes to max as we did before for the 6 divisioned ring, and lastly, to make things easier go to “Static locator, rotating rings” and select “Rotating locator, static rings”. You may increase tempo as you'd like, and I’d recommend listening to this rhythm for a while before trying it. It is more subtle than 5:6 but still easy, it just takes more time to learn. The phrase you can use to remember this rhythm is “all butter is not the same as hot butter”, but of course this is by now a loose framework able to give no accurate semblance of playing, for it is but a way to memorize the real rhythm better. After practicing a bit 6:7 is gained as you would any other polyrhythm. For 7:8, 8:9, and so on just practice and things will be fine! I'm currently learning 7:8. Now, so far we have only been considering polyrhythms of the form n:n+1, but these have been shown to be trivial. We’re going to take it one level up and now look at polyrhythms of the form n:n+2. First there is 2:4 - but wait - that’s just 1:2 and you could already ace that before you read this blog post. So, how about 3:5? Ooh, that one’s new! A 3:5 polyrhythm is shown in the following video: The phrase to help you remember this is “I’d like the best butter now” - make sure to get the rhythm IN THE VIDEO right, not just the phrase, because the phrase alone won’t do you a bit of good - you need to get the real rhythm lodged in your brain like a catchy song (cough) despacito (cough). So now, just tap out the rhythm with one hand, then you just alter - wait a moment, something’s strange here. With polyrhythms of the form n:n+1 we could just tap out the rhythm with one hand then do it with both hands, having as a rule that you always alternate hands. But in 3:5 rhythm there are places where the right or left hand will tap twice before the other hand does! So we must look at this carefully. If the left hand is tapping out 3 beats in a given time and the right hand 5 beats within that time, then the pattern will NOT be “together, right, left, right, left, right, left”, but the pattern will be “together, right, left, right, right, left, right” - the right hand repeats itself. This just means we now have to concern ourselves with what hand goes down when, but that’s hardly a concern - just be careful that when you bring the right hand down the second time you don’t make the five beats uneven by making the second beat fast. Play along with the video, keep in mind the phrase “I’d like the best butter now”, and remember it’s “together, right, left, right, right, left, right” - and guess what? You’ve mastered 3:5! There is much more to learn, but that is enough for today. If you have questions or feel I could have phrased part of this post simply then freely say so below! Category:Blog posts